Check-row attachment for planters.



W. JELSEMA. CHECK ROW ATTACHMENT FOR PLANTERS.

APPLICATION HLED JUNE t, 1915.

1.,171,206. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WIT/IIESSES: INVENTOR j y VVz/km J/sema BY ATTORNEY mi COLTJMBIA PuyoaRAPH C0-,WASH|NGTON, n. c.

W. JELSEMA. CHECK ROW ATTACHMENT FOR PLANTE'RS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1915.

1,171,206. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I WITNESSES: INVENTOR f Vl l/lfim J/Sema W By ATTORNEY THE COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO, WASHINGTON, n. c.

WILLEM JELSEMA, 0F \VOB'II-IING,SOUTH DAKOTA.

CHECK-ROW ATTACHMENT FOR PLANTERS.

. Application filed June 1, 1915. Serial No. 31,407.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WILLEM JnLsnMA, a citizen of the United States, and 'aresident of l/Vorthing, in the county of Lincoln and State of South Dakota, have invented a new and Improved Check-Row Attachment for Planters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

My invention relates to the type of check row devices for corn planters operating without the employment of a check wire for spacing the hills of corn. 7

Objects of the invention are to provlde a practical check row attachment that may be applied with facility to standard makes of planters; to provide an attachment of the indicated character, ofvery simple construetion; and to provide for making quickly and with facility, the necessary adjustments in the attachment, whereby to time the dropper 1 elements at the beginning of successive rows,

to accord with the positions of the hills in preceding rows.

Other objects and advantagesof'my 1mproved construction will appear from the specific description hereinafter given. Reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which: i j Figure 1 is a side elevation of jmy'im proved attachment applied to'planter elements'shown in longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 2 is a plan viewon anenlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken through the driven element'of the attachment. as applied to the axle of the planter; and'Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of indicating means formingpart of the attachment.

In carrying out my lnventlonin practlce,

in accordance with the illustrated example,

' the parts are formed and arranged for-connection with. standard features of corn planters, including a frame 10 hav ng a fixed axle l1 secured-in suitable hangers 10%,

or equivalent means, the axle, mounting the running wheels,.one beingshown and indicated by the numeral 12. g A swinging marker bar or arm 13 is indicated, of known form, having two marking disks, or wheels" r 14 at the outer end, together'with a shoe l5' and-a hopper 16. It isto be understood" that two shoes are employed, in practice, on.v

v standard two row planters.-

V Specification of Letters Patent. f

- an upward swingin Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

the standard make of planters, a running wheel 12 is seven feet in circumference and the hills'are dropped at every half revolution, to give a standard distance and one-half feet between hills.

' In my improved attachment 'a sleeve v18, constituting the drive element of the attachment is adapted to be mounted on the axle 11 adjacent to a running wheel or, drive wheel 12 of the implement between the said wheel and the hanger 10*. To establish driven engagement between the running wheel 12 and the 'driveelement 18,, a drive bar or coupling bar 19 is mounted on said sleeve by a pivot 20. The coupling bar is adapted to be swung parallelwith the sleeve 18, whereby to project beyond the sleeve and between the spokes l2 'of-the running wheel of three 12.. A latch is providedto hold the coupling bar'in the operative position.

latch may consist of a clamp plate 22 pivoted at one end on. thesleeve' 18, as at 23,

and having a button 24, or the like, at the opposite end for turning theclamp plate to a'latched position over 'the coupling bar or away from the latched position to permit g of the coupling bar to the d1sengaged position. I

25 over whicha chain 26 runs to a sprocket wheel 27 on a shaft 28 adjacent to the check barjor droppershaft 17. Turning, with the, shaft-28 is a trip finger-Q29 which is formed on 'a sleeve 29 secured by a set screw 29". On the check bar 17 is a sleeve 30 having a finger30: adapted to .be struckby the finger mechanism,.ea .pawl 31 on the shaft 17 and a ratchet wheel-32 engaged the pawl.

The dropper inechanism,:however, formsv no part of my invention.

"I provide-i dicating means.adapted for at-l tachment to the axle, :11 whereby the relationi'of the 'runningyvheel of the vehicle to the droppermovements ofthe checkbar 17.

. will be indicated." Said indicating means V 90 On the drive sleeve 18 is a sprocket'wheel is of a character to be altered whereby to determine the manual adjustment to be given to the drive and driven elements in setting the dropper mechanism at the beginningof a row to so time the same as to accord with the position of the dropped corn hills in preceding rows. The indicating means comprises a dial 3,3, the hub 34L of which fits on the end of the axle 11 at the outside of the drive wheel 12. Said dial is fixed on the axle 11 by any suitable means, such as a pin 35. Associated with the dial 33 is a pointer 36, the hub 36 of which fits loosely on the axle 11 adjacent to the face of the dial. The pointer 36 is so positioned relatively to the drive sleeve 18 and its coupling arm or drive bar 19, that said coupling bar when in the outer position between the spokes 12 of the running wheel 12, will extend at its free end in position to engage the pointer, so that the turning of the running wheel 12 will, through the medium of the coupling bar, turn the pointer 36 in unison with the turningof the drive element 18. On the other hand, when the coupling bar 19 is swung out of engagement with the spokes 12, both the pointer 36 and the sleeve 18 will be out of driven engagement with the running wheel, leaving both the pointer and the drive sleeve free to be manually turned independently. To effect a slight engagement essentially frictional, between the pointer and the dial, so that the pointer will maintain its position except as turned by the coupling bar 19, I provide an annularrseries of shallow teeth 37 to be engaged by the ofiset end 38 of the pawl.

In practice, in starting the planter across a field for planting the first rows, and the marker being in the lower position as usual for the disks 14 to mark the successive rows, the coupling bar 19 is thrown into engagement with the spokes of the wheel 12 and is fastened by the clamp plate 22. The dropper shoes 15 of the planter are thrown into the soil and the implement driven across the field. When the team is stopped, the coupling bar 19 is thrown out of gear, the marker and dropper shoes are raised, and the planteris turned about for the return. The shoes of the planter are positioned in the marks made by the marker, the heels of the shoes being exactly at the end of said marks. The shoes having been thrust into the ground to throw the weight off the running wheel, the dropping mechanism isnow adjusted-to position the hills in accordance with those already planted. The" adjustment is effected as follows: Assuming that the attachment has been set so that the dropping movements will take place when the pointer 36 is at 12 and 6 of'the indicating dial, the operator will observe the position of the pointer when the planter was stopped at the end of the row, and

assuming that the pointer had stopped at the numeral 2 in the movement from 12 to 6, this will mean that one-third the travel to the next dropping movement has taken place. In the new position of the planter for the return row, it will therefore become necessary to cause a dropping movement after the pointer has moved through the angle from 4: to 6 on the dial. Hence a manual adjustment must be effected by first moving the pointer 36 through the angle from 2 to 4 and then manually actuating the drive sleeve 18 to turn the same through the same angle through which the pointer has been moved, thereby advancing the dropper mechanism one-third, leaving the final one-third of the dropper movement of the drive to be effected by the running wheel 12 after the coupling bar 19 has been thrown into engagement with the said drive wheel, and locked.

In the present example I provide for the mounting of the shaft 28, arched frame bars 33 which are secured in any suitable manner to the frame 10, said arched bars having suitable bearings 34 for the shaft 28. It will. be understood that the form of the marking elements 13, 14 is immaterial, any approved form being used in practice.

The described construction affords a practical means for carrying my invention into effect, and I would state in conclusion that I do not limit myself strictly to the mechanical form of the machine as illustrated, since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims;

' Having thus described my invention. what I claim as new and desire to, secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A check row attachment for planters comprising a drive element adapted to be mounted on a planter to be turned with the a turning of a running wheel of the planter, a coupling member on the drive member and movable thereon to establish driven engagement with the running wheel of the planter or eifect engagement therefrom, in-' dicating means including a rotary and a relatively fixed member, the rotary member being adapted to be actuated by the movable member of the drive element, and being manually movable over the fixed indicating member to optionally alter their relative positions, and dropper actuating means driven from said drive element, the said drive element being manually turnable to adjust the relation of the dropper actuating means to a given adjustment of the indi'cating members. v i

' 2. 'A check row attachment for corn planters, comprising a drive element having means to mount the same in position on a planter to be turned by the turning of a running wheel of the planter, dropper actuating means driven from said drive element, and means to indicate the relation of the dropper actuating means to the running wheel of the planter, the said drive element and the said indicating means being manually adjustable to optionally vary the relation between the dropper actuating means and the indicating means.

3. A check row attachment for planters, comprising a drive element adapted to be loosely mounted on the axle of a planter, a dropper actuating element driven from said drive element, and a coupling bar swingingly mounted on the drive element, whereby to efiect engagement or disengagement of the drive element and the adjacent running wheel of a planter. V

4. A check row attachment for planters, comprising a rotary driven element, a dropper actuating element driven from the drive element, an indicating means including a rotary indicating member, and means to establish or disestablish driving connection between the drive element and the rotary indicating member and between the drive element and a revolving part of a planter.

5. In a check row attachment for planters, a dropper element, a drive element in constant driving engagement with the said dropper element, indicating means including a movable indicating member, movable means to optionally actuate the drive element from a rotary part of a planter, and means to variously establish driving engagement between the said drive element and the movable indicating member.

6. In a check row attachment for planters, a drive element, manually controlled means to actuate the drive element from a rotary part of a planter, a dropper actuating element driven from the drive element, and an indicating means comprising a fixed member and a rotary member, the rotary member being adapted to be driven in unison with the said drive element over the face of the fixed indicating member, and being manually movable over the face of the said fixed member independently ofthe drive element, the said drive element being manually turnable to conform to a given adjustment of the rotary indicating member. V

In testimony whereof I have subscribed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLEM J ELSEMA.

Witnesses: WM. F. BERnNs, J OHN Guru's.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the co minissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

